Entrepreneurial resilience and business sustainability in post-conflict communities: evidence from north east

This study examined the entrepreneurial resilience and business sustainability in post-conflict communities of North East Nigeria. It adopted the entrepreneurial resilience theory as a theoretical framework. A documentary and ex-post facto research design was adopted. The units of analysis are small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) registered in the selected states, Nigeria, while secondary data were sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), SMEDAN, North East Development Commission (NEDC), UNDP, IOM, World Bank, and ACLED. The secondary method of data collection used systematic extraction from official reports and databases to obtain quantitative panel data from 2015 to 2025. Hypotheses were tested using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) regression statistical technique at a p<0.05 significance level. Findings from hypothesis one revealed that diversification has significantly enhanced business sustainability in post-conflict communities of North East Nigeria, with a coefficient of 0.7892 and p-value of 0.0012 (p < 0.05). Findings from hypothesis two revealed that collaborative partnerships have significantly enhanced business sustainability, with a coefficient of 0.9125 and p-value of 0.0008 (p < 0.05). Findings from hypothesis three revealed that innovation adoption has significantly enhanced business sustainability, with a coefficient of 0.6543 and p-value of 0.0025 (p < 0.05). The study concluded that entrepreneurial resilience specifically diversification, collaborative partnerships, and innovation adoption positively and significantly influences business sustainability in post-conflict North East Nigeria. The study recommended, among other things, that entrepreneurs should actively pursue diversification strategies across product lines and prioritize innovation adoption through digital technologies and new operational methods to enhance business sustainability.